I was renting a house and had hookups for a washer. I detest having to lug everything to the laundromat and paying to wash it, so I started looking for an affordable alternative. Previously I had use the "Wonderwash" with a small spin dryer. While they worked for the short time I needed them, I now have two people's clothes to wash and a mini hand washer just wasn't going to cut it. I found this and am so happy I did!

My only word of caution is to be careful with the water intake hose where it attaches to the machine at the top. I had to make sure to not open the valve on my washer hookups too much or the water pressure would force the connection to the machine to start a serious leak! If I had not been moving again I would have probably put a bead of silicone caulking around the insertion to keep it from leaking. Instead, I would just open the water valves slightly and/or stand and hold the hose in tight every time the tub was filling. For me it was definitely worth it. (You can see in the picture that we also had to buy a connector to make the single hose attach to the two separate water hookups.)

I never got to try it with the sink faucet hookup, and the apartment I live in now does not allow these portable machines anyway. They say they had problems with them causing flooding situations; that could only be operator error as the sides and bottom of the machine are completely sealed! I never had water come out until my boyfriend tried to take it out of the house without first fully emptying the drain hose! Which reminds me, the drain hose is kinda short. In order for me to hook it over the drain pipe for a washing machine, I had to attach the 2 foot drain hose from my mini spin dryer. You should be able to find the stuff to rig it from any hardware/box home improvement store.

+8points

21out of34found this review helpful.

Share this review:

Review 3 for Danby Portable Twin Tub Washer - 10.0 Lb. Capacity

Overall Rating:

5out of5

Product Quality:

5out of5

Product Functions As Expected:

5out of5

Installation/Assembly:

5out of5

Energy Efficient:

5out of5

Easy To Use:

5out of5

NoiseLevel:

5out of5

Cleans Tough Stains:

5out of5

Cycle Time Speed:

5out of5

ASAP

If you're an apartment dweller ... or move around

In my 60's now, but had a machine similar to this in my 20's made by Hoover. Moved into this apartment 22 years ago and for some reason really disliked the idea of washing my clothes in the public arena, so I had to hunt for one like the Hoover (they haven't made them for years).

I knew there had to be someone out there making them and ran across this one, ordered it (ten years ago?). I have Maine Coon cats (lotsa hair everywhere) and have even found the Danby easy to unclog and have found a way to keep hair from getting into the drain system at all (using a plastic kitchen strainer to clear the waste water prior to draining. I have it set on a dolly for easy movement and stash it in the closet under my stairwell.

Have always loved the really fast spin and in some cases, depending on the fabric of my clothing, can hang them for five or ten minutes, then be on my way. Be sure that if something should happen to mine, it will be replaced with another Danby. If no one is making them by then, I'll make my own. Won't do without it. My brothers visit and find my laundry time better than with their big bulky machines in their fancy laundry rooms. (tee hee)

Better get one ... I paid a whole bunch more for mine years ago ... thinking about buying another one just in case.

What A Graet Little Machine!

I am single Guy who lives in a TINY APARTMENT. This Machine IS GRAET! I can control all the actions on it.

Due to skin allergies, I have to rinse my clothes multiple times. This machine is Great for that. The Spin is Great! It spun my mattress cover so dry that it was dry enough to put back on my bed, after only an hour or so hung over the shower pole in the bathroom.

I have found that putting the washing products, detergent, bleach whatever, in first and then swishing it for a second is the best way to start. I load the smaller items first then the bigger items second. Generally speaking the Gentle Cycle is sufficient. I use the Normal for towels and Blue Jeans.

Generally speaking I turn the machine on for 15 Minutes, but if I am in a hurry I will only do 8 or 6 minutes.

Now for Spinning put heavier items in the bottom. HINT: Tee shirts are heavier, generally speaking than a dress shirt!

Lighter items such as socks and underwear go on top. Tamp them down with the white rubber Do Hickey Thing a me bob. You may have to play around with your loading strategy. Give it a good three-minute spin. I usually give the laundry a power rinse/spin for five minutes after that. While the clothes are spinning, the tub can be refilling. After the spins, the Clothes go back into the tub for rinse. I usually rinse 2 to three times. (JUST ME) I have noticed that usually after the second Rinse, the wastewater is clear!

This machine has an OVERFLOW drain. If you leave the water running it will drain off excess water. THE MACHINE MUST BE plugged in. Always Plug it in before anything.

Now this machine DOES NOT HAVE A SAFETY SWITCH or Fuse on it. One day I Moved the Machine up to the sink, started the water then put the clothes in, and answered the telephone. I was horrified that I had neglected this machine. The water in the washtub had over flowed into the spinner. I turned on the spinner. NOTHING!

It was not plugged in. I plugged it in and still nothing! Nothing Worked. To Make a Long Story Short When I plugged in the machine, it tripped the circuit breaker. Once switched on everything was fine. SO PLUG THE MACHINE IN FIRST!

I have recommended this machine to other people.

+35points

63out of91found this review helpful.

Share this review:

Review 5 for Danby Portable Twin Tub Washer - 10.0 Lb. Capacity

Overall Rating:

5out of5

rosie

Location:Fonda, ny

i like doing laundry

I fill washer, put in white clothes,, spin them,put in basket. in the same water i do a load of a little darker clothes, spin, put in basket, do progressivley darker clothes, all in the same water, after allcloths are clean and spun out, i drain washer, fill with clean cold water and first rinse white cloths, spin and hang up, next darker cloths rinsed, spun out, hung up, do this till all clothes are rinsed and spun dry. saves water,saves enegry, and the clothes are really clean.

AWESOME!!

Date:May 4, 2009

Pros: Spins clothing almost dry, Clean Clothes Well, Energy Efficient

I have had my machine for about 3 weeks. I absolutely love it. Saves quite a bit of water, don't need fabric softener anymore as there is hardly any detergent residue left in the laundry. It needs such a small amount of detergent and can hold a set of king sized sheets with 4 pillow cases! My whites are definitely brighter and the gentle cycle is enough to clean everything. Love that you can reuse the water, and it evokes creativity in figuring out how to do so....Spin cycle is fabulous, and my clothing is dry within a few hours. LOVE IT!!

+28points

29out of30found this review helpful.

Share this review:

Review 8 for Danby Portable Twin Tub Washer - 10.0 Lb. Capacity

Overall Rating:

5out of5

First Time Father

Location:San Diego

Better than we expected!!

We read all of the reviews and did a LOT of research before we purchased this particular portable washer. We are expecting our first child in two months. The thought of lugging all of our laundry plus a child to the laundromat was just plain crazy. After reading some of the other reviews for this product, our decision was made. We couldn't be happier. We can now keep Junior's stuff clean without leaving the house!

+11points

11out of11found this review helpful.

Share this review:

Review 9 for Danby Portable Twin Tub Washer - 10.0 Lb. Capacity

Overall Rating:

5out of5

g2

Location:Oakland California

excellent unit, highest efficiency also

I've had this unit for a couple of years now and it's excellent. Does a great job, is quiet, has never had a repair issue, and probably the most energy-efficient washer avaialble today. If you're on off-grid power, there is nothing better.

Electricity consumption was measured at 0.05 kilowatt hours (equivalent to running a 60-watt bulb for an hour) for a 4.5 lb. load, and 0.07 KWH for a 6-lb load. This assumes one 6-minute wash cycle, a couple of 1.5 minute extract/spin cycles, a 6-minute deep rinse, and 5 minute final spin. The agitator peaks at 250 watts and averages about 175, the spinner runs at 150 watts, and the pump at 28 watts. I don't know how Danby ends up quoting 584 KWH per year; if you do four loads per week in cold water it will actually be 14.56 KWH/year, or 97.6% better than Danby's figure. (Perhaps they add in the power required for conventional hot water? But you can wash in cold or warm, or if you have solar hot water it's effectively "free.") The highspeed spin is so effective that you can hang your clothes on an indoor line and they're bone-dry in hours (or at most overnight during cold weather if you don't overheat your house). Thus no need for a tumble dryer, and an added savings of 2.4 KWH per load.

Here's another water conservation method that's useful in 1-2 person households: Save the final rinse water in the wash tub and use it for the wash cycle in the next load. Final rinse water is clean: just a little bit of lint and a tiny bit of detergent residue. Thus it can be held over safely for a few days; or for longer than a week add a teaspoon of bleach to be sure. Using this method, the only fresh water you need is for the rinse cycle (i.e. since you've used the last rinse water for the next wash water, you use new water for the next rinse cycle), which cuts fresh water consumption by half.

The only limitation is load size. For loads with blue jeans, 6-1/2 lbs is about the max (2 pairs jeans, 3-4 shirts). For loads w/o blue jeans, you can get 7-1/2 to 8 lbs. This turns out to be about 2 loads per week per person. (Most compact washers regardless of manufacturer are rated at about 25% more than is realistic, perhaps they're running test loads with all small stuff such as socks & underwear?)

OK, so how's it work? Great: Smaller load sizes lead to more effective color separation of laundry, and the high-speed spin extracts more detergent residue from clothes. All of my clothes went from "dingy" to "bright" in a matter of weeks as a result of these factors. Shirts and blue jeans that were looking faded and dull came out bright; underwear went from dull to sparkling with normal detergent and a bit of bleach. The "gentle" cycle is sufficient for most purposes; the "normal" cycle should be labeled "strong" and could probably scrub the stink out of a skunk.

You can reduce your detergent consumption without sacrificing cleaning. 10 to 20 millliliters per load (get a measuring container that looks like a calibrated shot glass) of eco-safe liquid detergent is more than enough to do the job.

You can also do a pre-soak by adding half the detergent to the wash water, putting in your clothes, and agitating for a minute or so, then leaving it all to sit for 15 minutes before adding the rest of the detergent and turning on the agitator for the 6-minute wash cycle. This is helpful for getting rid of ground-in outdoor dirt, construction dirt, and so on.

The utter simplicity of the twin-tub system, with mechanical timers and simple drive systems, eliminates the need for sequencers and computer controllers: this should mean much greater reliability, lower costs for repairs, and longer lifespan. All this for a fraction of the cost of a high-tech front loader.

+28points

30out of32found this review helpful.

Share this review:

Review 10 for Danby Portable Twin Tub Washer - 10.0 Lb. Capacity

Overall Rating:

4out of5

Kingfisher

Location:Wells Bridge, NY

Terrific Portable Washer

Date:August 14, 2009

Pros: Clean Clothes Well, Spins Clothes Dry

My expensive, all the bells and whistles, front loader broke down, again, and I decided I wanted a basic washer with mechanical controls. I have been using it for a month and can't say enough good things about it. Yes, it does require baby sitting to go from wash to spin to rinse, but so did the fancy machine. The spin dry is wonderful, the clothes are barely damp when they come out. I have washed a bed spread in it, no problem, towels, no problem, bathroom rugs, no problem. This machine is a small powerhouse. The only thing I would change is to put swivel casters on it, the casters it has only go in two directions, frontwards or backwards. I hope this machine lasts forever, I love it.

Flintstones vs Jetsons

A month of research resulted in a twin tub washer as the answer to my needs and concerns. This little gem will get your clothes as clean as any other top loader. Best is the spin dryer which extracts almost all the water and you can hang dry. Lighter articles come out damp and ready to iron. Thus you can forget your dryer and save wear and tear on your clothes and pocket book. For one or two people who are also environment conscious this is the perfect washer. With the manual features you can concerve time, water, and detergent by reusing the wash water and final rinse for another two loads. I find it much quicker than an automatic.

+15points

16out of17found this review helpful.

Share this review:

Review 14 for Danby Portable Twin Tub Washer - 10.0 Lb. Capacity

Overall Rating:

3out of5

Product Quality:

3out of5

Product Functions As Expected:

4out of5

Installation/Assembly:

4out of5

Energy Efficient:

4out of5

Easy To Use:

3out of5

NoiseLevel:

4out of5

Cleans Tough Stains:

4out of5

Cycle Time Speed:

4out of5

womanofGOD

Like but don't love it.

We are new parents in a condo unit without alot of space. We decided to purchase a portable washer to minimize time at laundrymat. We do like this machine but it does take alot of work. You have to wash the load then put the clothes into the spin bin. It feels like alot of extra work. It does clean well, very simple to use and will save us money in the long run. I wish we would've looked around further before purchasing this unit. I'd really like the washer to spin by itself.